THEY SAY, "MURDER IS, BY DEFINITION, A CRIME OF PASSION." THE QUESTION IS WHO'S PASSIONATE.

LOL quantum - "The Deadly Look of Love"!

Delusional stalkers frequently have little, if any, contact with their victims. They have major mental illnesses like schizophrenia, manic-depression or erotomania, and come from an abusive or emotionally barren family background with a poor sense of their own identity. They hold tight to some false belief that keeps them tied to their victims. In erotomania, the stalker's delusional belief is that the victim loves him. This type of stalker actually believes that he is having a relationship with his victim, even though they might never have met. The woman stalking David Letterman, the stalker who killed actress Rebecca Schaeffer and the man who stalked Madonna are all examples of this. Another type of delusional stalker believes he is destined to be with someone, and that if he only pursues her hard enough and long enough, she will come to love him as he loves her. These stalkers know they are not having a relationship with their victims, but firmly believe that they will some day. John Hinckley Jr. and his obsession with Jodi Foster is an example of this type of stalker.

Delusional stalkers are typically unmarried and socially immature loners who are unable to establish or sustain close relationships with others. They rarely date and have had few, if any, sexual relationships. Since they are both threatened by and yearn for closeness, they often pick victims who are unattainable in some way; married women, a therapist, clergyman, doctor or teacher. Those in the helping professions are particularly vulnerable to delusional stalkers. Any kindness shown to this kind of stalker will be blown out of proportion into a delusion of intimacy. What these stalkers cannot attain in reality is achieved through fantasy. While some seek out a victim of higher status (doctors, lawyers, teachers), others seek out celebrities. Celebrity stalkers often psychotically "hear" or "see" something in the words or appearances of the victim. They are often convinced that the celebrity is sending them cryptic messages intended only for them to understand. Erotomanic delusions last an average of 10 years.

THEY SAY, "MURDER IS, BY DEFINITION, A CRIME OF PASSION." THE QUESTION IS WHO'S PASSIONATE.

LOL quantum - "The Deadly Look of Love"!

Delusional stalkers frequently have little, if any, contact with their victims. They have major mental illnesses like schizophrenia, manic-depression or erotomania, and come from an abusive or emotionally barren family background with a poor sense of their own identity. They hold tight to some false belief that keeps them tied to their victims. In erotomania, the stalker's delusional belief is that the victim loves him. This type of stalker actually believes that he is having a relationship with his victim, even though they might never have met. The woman stalking David Letterman, the stalker who killed actress Rebecca Schaeffer and the man who stalked Madonna are all examples of this. Another type of delusional stalker believes he is destined to be with someone, and that if he only pursues her hard enough and long enough, she will come to love him as he loves her. These stalkers know they are not having a relationship with their victims, but firmly believe that they will some day. John Hinckley Jr. and his obsession with Jodi Foster is an example of this type of stalker.

Delusional stalkers are typically unmarried and socially immature loners who are unable to establish or sustain close relationships with others. They rarely date and have had few, if any, sexual relationships. Since they are both threatened by and yearn for closeness, they often pick victims who are unattainable in some way; married women, a therapist, clergyman, doctor or teacher. Those in the helping professions are particularly vulnerable to delusional stalkers. Any kindness shown to this kind of stalker will be blown out of proportion into a delusion of intimacy. What these stalkers cannot attain in reality is achieved through fantasy. While some seek out a victim of higher status (doctors, lawyers, teachers), others seek out celebrities. Celebrity stalkers often psychotically "hear" or "see" something in the words or appearances of the victim. They are often convinced that the celebrity is sending them cryptic messages intended only for them to understand. Erotomanic delusions last an average of 10 years.

THEY SAY, "MURDER IS, BY DEFINITION, A CRIME OF PASSION." THE QUESTION IS WHO'S PASSIONATE.

LOL quantum - "The Deadly Look of Love"!

Delusional stalkers frequently have little, if any, contact with their victims. They have major mental illnesses like schizophrenia, manic-depression or erotomania, and come from an abusive or emotionally barren family background with a poor sense of their own identity. They hold tight to some false belief that keeps them tied to their victims. In erotomania, the stalker's delusional belief is that the victim loves him. This type of stalker actually believes that he is having a relationship with his victim, even though they might never have met. The woman stalking David Letterman, the stalker who killed actress Rebecca Schaeffer and the man who stalked Madonna are all examples of this. Another type of delusional stalker believes he is destined to be with someone, and that if he only pursues her hard enough and long enough, she will come to love him as he loves her. These stalkers know they are not having a relationship with their victims, but firmly believe that they will some day. John Hinckley Jr. and his obsession with Jodi Foster is an example of this type of stalker.

Delusional stalkers are typically unmarried and socially immature loners who are unable to establish or sustain close relationships with others. They rarely date and have had few, if any, sexual relationships. Since they are both threatened by and yearn for closeness, they often pick victims who are unattainable in some way; married women, a therapist, clergyman, doctor or teacher. Those in the helping professions are particularly vulnerable to delusional stalkers. Any kindness shown to this kind of stalker will be blown out of proportion into a delusion of intimacy. What these stalkers cannot attain in reality is achieved through fantasy. While some seek out a victim of higher status (doctors, lawyers, teachers), others seek out celebrities. Celebrity stalkers often psychotically "hear" or "see" something in the words or appearances of the victim. They are often convinced that the celebrity is sending them cryptic messages intended only for them to understand. Erotomanic delusions last an average of 10 years.

I think the purpose of the death penalty is not to deter crime, rather it is to punish. Most homocides are not calculated murders that took planning; they are crimes of passion, where the wrong-doer did not even contemplate the consequences of their actions. The fact that the death penalty is now unconstitutional for juveniles means nothing.

They say, "Murder is, by definition, a crime of passion." The question is who's passionate.

Indeed, Holland Taylor ("The Practice") as defense attorney Evelyn McGinnis steals the show in the last part of the film. I doubt if any court in the land would allow such antics (though some have come close), but the sharp wit of her dialog, and the timing of her delivery, is a joy to watch.

THEY SAY, "MURDER IS, BY DEFINITION, A CRIME OF PASSION." THE QUESTION IS WHO'S PASSIONATE.

LOL quantum - "The Deadly Look of Love"!

I am sure you have all heard about that saying, "Don't get mad, get even." Well, that saying misses a point: getting mad exists, in part, precisely for the purpose of "getting even." Passions are rational -- they function as well-designed components of human psychological machinery, facilitating effective solutions to specific adaptive problems. They succeed at precisely those critical junctures in life when dispassionate cold calculation would fail. Emotions, far from opposing reason, are extraordinarily effective means for implementing goals. Passions possess a functional, subconscious logic. In the case of homicide, passions provide the motivational fuel to enact a murder -- but the murder is most often a solution arrived at through careful and complex, although sometimes speedy, calculation.

[...] They are often convinced that the celebrity is sending them cryptic messages intended only for them to understand. Erotomanic delusions last an average of 10 years.

Does the person substitute for it with a new one? For instance, does s/he become obsessed with another celebrity?

Even if s/he does not, in lieu of, that person will suffer for the rest of his/her life the stigma of having been a mental patient. For instance, a patient's delusion may not be false. In case of delusional jealousy, the deluded person believes that his partner is unfaithful -- well, the partner may be unfaithful and yet the afflicted person is said to be deluded. Why? Because of the INADEQUATE EVIDENCE CITED AS PROOF of the claim. Yet, were this person to offer sufficient proof at a later point in time after having been labeled, we'd still not clear him/her as being mentally ill, although logically we had to.